In-out transporter for an enclosed chamber

ABSTRACT

An In-Out Transporter arrangement for an enclosed chamber, subjected either to a vacuum or to a positive pressure, comprising in combination a gasket sleeve on and covering an entrance and/or exit of the chamber, a cavitied rotor rotatably disposed in the gasket sleeve so that the cavitied portion of the rotor may be selectively rotated into or out of the chamber. The rotor and the gasket sleeve being arranged in such tight fitting relationship that the integrity of the vacuum or pressurized condition of the enclosed chamber is maintained while the cavitied rotor is rotated in the gasket sleeve. The cavitied rotor being adapted to receive and retain articles and/or tools, instruments or the like therein to be transported into the enclosed chamber to be operated upon or to provide an operation within the enclosed chamber and thereafter to be transported out of the chamber.

United States Patent [1 1 Lee [ lN-OUT TRANSPORTER FOR AN ENCLOSED CHAMBER [76] Inventor: Jau-Yien Lee, No. 4, Lane 1 Hung-Pu 6th Village, Feng-Sang City, Kao-Hsiung Hieng, Taiwan, China [22] Filed: Feb. 9, 1973 211 App]. No.: 331,223

[52] US. Cl. 204/298; ll8/49.l; 204/192; 2l4/l7 B [5]] Int. Cl. ...B65G 65/30; C23C 13/08; C23C l5/00 [58] Field of Search 204/l92, 298; 99/366; 214/17 B; 118/491, 49.5

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8 l2,l54 2/l906 Scott et al 99/366 l.398,476 ll/l92l Thompson 99/366 1.646.577 [0/1927 Chapman 99/365 2,100,045 1 l/l937 Alexander 204/298 2,468,794 5/l949 Wilbur i 99/366 3,649,502 3/1972 Herte et al 204/298 3,656,454 4/1972 Schrader 2l4/l7 8 3,736,246 5/1973 Grasenick 204/298 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS l9l,986 4/1967 U.S.S.R 204/298 [451 July 15, 1975 494,045 3/l930 Germany 4. 99/366 Primary E.ramt'nerHerbert T. Carter Assistant ExaminerWayne A. Langel Attorney, Agent, or FirmJames A. Wong [57] ABSTRACT An In-Out Transporter arrangement for an enclosed chamber, subjected either to a vacuum or to a positive pressure, comprising in combination a gasket sleeve on and covering an entrance and/or exit of the chamher. a cavitied rotor rotatably disposed in the gasket sleeve so that the cavitied portion of the rotor may be selectively rotated into or out of the chamber. The rotor and the gasket sleeve being arranged in such tight fitting relationship that the integrity of the vacuum or pressurized condition of the enclosed chamber is maintained while the cavitied rotor is rotated in the gasket sleeve. The cavitied rotor being adapted to receive and retain articles and/or tools, instruments or the like therein to be transported into the enclosed chamber to be operated upon or to provide an operation within the enclosed chamber and thereafter to be transported out of the chamber.

11 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures IN-OUT TRANSPORTER FOR AN ENCLOSED CHAMBER BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an apparatus for use with an enclosed chamber by which articles, tools or instruments can be transported into and/or out of an enclosed chamber without opening the chamber. For example, the apparatus may find use in applying a thin film on to a substrate by means of the vacuum deposition technique.

The technique of vacuum deposition is becoming of increasing importance in many scientific and engineering, particularly microelectronic, fields. With known apparatuses for applying thin film in a vacuum system, it is frequently necessary to open the vacuum chamber, and sometimes it is necessary to apply more than one layer of film over a substrate, which in turn may require the chamber to be opened again and again, so that the system may require evacuation time and again with added contamination being drawn into the system each time evacuation is effected.

As may be appreciated, the present invention comprises an assembly of a cavitied rotor (part No. l) and an appropriate gasket sleeve (part No. 2) on an enclosed chamber. The cavity (part No. 5) is made for loading articles to be transported. By rotating the rotor one can transport the articles into or out of the enclosed chamber without opening the chamber.

The gasket is installed to prevent leakage. The size and shape of rotor and gasket are determined by the use. FIG. 1 is an example of IN-OUT TRANS- PORTER FOR AN ENCLOSED CHAMBER". FIG. 2 is an example of the gasket sleeve.

Shafts (part No. 6) could be made for linking the rotor to a driving assembly such as crank or gears. The size and shape of the cavity is determined by the use. A cover (part No. 7) over the cavity could be made and operated by mechanical or electrical operating assembly; or it may be opened by its own weight and closed by the pressure of the gasket sleeve when it is turning back.

An outer or upper opening is made on the gasket sleeve (part No. 16) for convenience in loading and unloading the rotor, and enables loading articles into the cavity of the rotor. On the opposite side of the outer or upper opening 16 of the sleeve one more inner or lower opening (part No. is made to expose articles to the other side of the chamber, or to enable loading or unloading articles from the other side of the chamber. A U-shaped slot (part No. 8) may be made to fix the transporter assembly to the chamber, if desired. A little lubrication substance may be applied to the inner wall of the gasket for ease of rotating. A fixing assembly (part No. 3) may be installed if desired.

When using this "IN-OUT TRANSPORTER FOR AN ENCLOSED CHAMBER" in a Vacuum Deposition System or Cathode Sputtering System, two of the said transporters may be installed on the opposite side of the vacuum chamber. Two examples of this transporter are illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, where the gasket sleeve (part No. 2) has been elevated, and the wall of chamber (part No. 4) is designed to just cover the opening of the rotor to prevent the bombardment of the highly energized ions. The rotor illustrated in FIG. 3 can be used as an electrode itself. Sputtering can be performed by setting the material target and the substrate to the opposite rotors. The rotor illustrated in FIG. 4 has been installed with insolated electrodes (part No. 14) through insulating tubes (part No. 13) for various uses, such as the connection of heater, thermal couple or electrodes for RF. sputtering etc.. Holes (part No. 10) may be built in the rotor, in which gas or liquid may flow to control the temperature of the rotor, or in which a resistance heater may pass through to warm up the rotor to the desired temperature. Narrow slots (part No. 11) may be made on the edge of the opening of the rotor for protecting the climbing of the lubrication oil, if any, to the cavity of the rotor. Part No. 12 denotes a substrate or a material target for cathode sputtering; or it may denote an evaporation source in an evaporation vacuum system. Over the substrate there is a mask (part No. 17). Part No. 4 could be the wall of chamber or a special designed holder.

This transporter could be applied to various containers, chambers or reactors to carry articles into or out of the operating system, and will not interupt the operation. For example, it may be applied to a space ship for the transportation of camers equipment which usually is carried by astronauts. It is a very extracting apparatus for a vacuum system such as thin film fabrication, in which substrate and material can be loaded or unloaded without opening the bell jar, and no more repumping work is required. The systems mentioned above are just a few special examples. The contribution to engineering and science is invaluable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 A pictorial drawing of IN-OUT TRANS- PORTER FOR AN ENCLOSED CHAMBER".

FIG. 2 A pictorial drawing of gasket sleeve.

FIG. 3 Front view of a direct electroded rotor.

FIG. 4 Front view of a feed-through electroded rotor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION:

Part No. Part name I Rotor 2 Gasket sleeve 3 Gasket sleeve holder 4 Chamber 5 Cavity 6 Shaft 7 Cover 8 U-shaped fixing slot 9 Electrode binding posts I0 HOles l 1 Oil protecting slot l2 Substrate or material target 13 Insulating tube l4 Electrode feed-through l5 Gasket inner or lower opening l6 Gasket outer or upper opening l7 Mask of the substrate I claim:

portion having an inner opening and an outer opening for access to said rotor element, and said rotor element having at least one cavity in its periphery which may be rotated into and out of registration with said outer and inner openings, said cavity including therein means for fixedly holding article, substance, tool or instrument placed therein and transported into and/or out of said chamber and vice versa with said article, substance, tool or instrument being subjected to or providing an operation while in said chamber all while maintaining said chamber in sealed condition.

2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein insulated binding post means for carrying electrical current without leakage are removably secured within said at least one cavmy 3. The assembly of claim 2 in combination with a similar assembly on the opposite side of a chamber whereby one of said rotor elements is adapted to function as an electrode and the other of said rotor elements is adapted to function as a target.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said chamber is suitable for operating under vacuum condition and said rotor elements are operable to effect vacuum deposition or cathode sputtering.

5. The assembly of claim 2 in combination with a similar assembly on the opposite side of a chamber of a cathode sputtering system wherein one rotor element functions as a cathode holding means by which a negative high voltage is supplied to a cathode held thereby and the other rotor element functions as a substrate holding means by which a positive high voltage is supplied to said substrate held thereby.

6. The assembly of claim 2 in combination with a similar assembly on the opposite side of a vacuum chamber of a vacuum evaporation system wherein one rotor element functions as an evaporation source holding means through which electric current may be supplied to heat said evaporation source and the other rotor element functions as a substrate holding means.

7. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said holding means includes removable threaded members radially secured within said cavity.

8. The assembly of claim 1 wherein binding post means for carrying electrical current are radially secured within said at least one cavity.

9. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said rotor element includes at least one hollow passage extending therein through which temperature control medium may flow to effectively maintain the temperature of said assembly at a desired level.

10. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said rotor element includes at least one hollow portion and a resistance heater disposed therein whereby the temperature of said assembly may be maintained at a desired level.

11. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said cavity includes narrow slots adjacent outer edges of said cavity but radially inwardly thereof to protect against the climbing of lubrication oil. 

1. AN IN-OUT TRANSPORTING ASSEMBLY FOR TRANSPORTING ARTICLES, SUBSTANCE TOOLS OR INSTRUMENTS INTO AND/OR OUT OF AN ENCLOSED CHAMBER UNDER VACUUM CONDITION OR SUBJECTED TO POSITIVE PRESSURE WITHOUT OPENING THE CHAMBER, SAID ASSEMBLY COMPRISING GASKET MEANS AND A ROTOR ELEMENT CHARACTERIZED IN THAT SAID GASKET MEANS INCLUDES A SLEEVE PORTION WITHIN WHICH SAID ROTOR ELEMENT IS DISPOSED AND AN ADDITIONAL PORTION ADAPTED TO EXTEND AROUND AND TO BE SECURED OVER AN OPENING OF AN OTHERWISE ENCLOSED CHAMBER IN SEALING RELATIONSHIP THEREWITH, SAID ROTOR ELEMENT BEING IN BOTH ROTATING AND SEALING RELATIONSHIP WITH SAID SLEEVE PORTION, SAID SLEEVE PORTION HAVING AN INNER OPENING AND AN OUTER OPENING FOR ACCESS TO SAID ROTOR ELEMENT AND SAID ROTOR ELEMENT HAVING AT LEAST ONE CAVITY IN ITS PERIPHERY WHICH MAY BE ROTATED INTO AND OUT OF REGISTRATION WITH SAID OUTER AND INNER OPENINGS, SAID CAVITY INCLUDING THEREIN MEANS FOR FIXEDLY HOLDING ARTICLE, SUBSTANCE, TOOL OR INSTRUMENT PLACED THEREIN AND TRANSPORTED INTO AND/OR OUT OF SAID CHAMBER AND VICE VERSA WITH SAID ARTICLE, SUBSTANCE, TOOL OR INSTRUMENT BEING SUBJECTED TO OR PROVIDING AN OPERATION WHILE IN SAID CHAMBER ALL WHILE MAINTAINING SAID CHAMBER IN SEALED CONDIDTION.
 2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein insulated binding post means for carrying electrical current without leakage are removably secured within said at least one cavity.
 3. The assembly of claim 2 in combination with a similar assembly on the opposite side of a chamber whereby one of said rotor elements is adapted to function as an electrode and the other of said rotor elements is adapted to function as a target.
 4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said chamber is suitable for operating under vacuum condition and said rotor elements are operable to effect vacuum deposition or cathode sputtering.
 5. The assembly of claim 2 in combination with a similar assembly on the opposite side of a chamber of a cathode sputtering system wherein one rotor element functions as a cathode holding means by which a negative high voltage is supplied to a cathode held thereby and the other rotor element functions as a substrate holding means by which a positive high voltage is supplied to said substrate held thereby.
 6. The assembly of claim 2 in combination with a similar assembly on the opposite side of a vacuum chamber of a vacuum evaporation system wherein one rotor element functions as an evaporation source holding means through which electric current may be supplied to heat said evaporation source and the other rotor element functions as a substrate holding means.
 7. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said holding means includes removable threaded members radially secured within said cavity.
 8. The assembly of claim 1 wherein binding post means for carrying electrical current are radially secured within said at least one cavity.
 9. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said rotor element includes at least one hollow passage extending therein through which temperature control medium may flow to effectively maintain the temperature of said assembly at a desired level.
 10. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said rotor element includes at least one hollow portion and a resistance heater disposed therein whereby the temperature of said assembly may be maintained at a desired level.
 11. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said cavity includes narrow slots adjacent outer edges of said cavity but radially inwardly thereof to protect against the climbing of lubrication oil. 